WHEN THE BIBLE SPEAKS IN PICTURES, HOW SHOULD WE READ IT?
How to Understand Figurative, Symbolic, and Apocalyptic Language from Genesis to Revelation
Introduction — Not Every Sentence Is Meant to Be Read the Same Way
The Bible contains history, law, poetry, prophecy, letters, parables, and visions.
These different kinds of writing communicate truth in different ways.
When Luke tells us that Paul traveled to Corinth, he is reporting an event.
When Jesus says, "I am the door" (John 10:9), He is using a picture to teach us something about Himself.
When Daniel sees four great beasts rising from the sea (Daniel 7:3), he is describing a vision.
All three passages communicate truth. But they do not use language in the same way.
A common mistake in Bible study is to read every passage as though it were written in the same style.
Another mistake is to call a passage symbolic simply because its plain meaning does not agree with what we already believe.
The first question is not, "Should I take this literally?"
The first question is:
"What kind of writing am I reading, and how does the author intend me to understand it?"
That question matters from Genesis to Revelation.
1. What Is Figurative Language?
Figurative language uses words or pictures in ways that go beyond their ordinary, direct meaning.
We use it every day.
When someone says, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," we understand that the person is very hungry.
We do not expect him to eat an actual horse.
The Bible also uses figures of speech.
Psalm 23:1 — "The LORD is my shepherd."
David is not saying that God literally tends sheep with a wooden staff.
He is describing God's care, guidance, and protection.
John 15:5 — "I am the vine; you are the branches."
Jesus is not saying He is a plant.
He is explaining the relationship between Himself and His disciples.
Matthew 5:13 — "You are the salt of the earth."
Jesus uses salt to illustrate the influence His disciples should have.
These statements are not false because they are figurative.
They communicate real truths through familiar pictures.
A picture may be symbolic, but the truth it communicates is real.
2. Figurative Language Appears as Early as Genesis
We do not have to wait until Revelation to encounter figurative language.
Genesis 4:10
After Cain murders Abel, God says:
"The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground."
Abel's blood is not literally speaking with a human voice.
God uses a powerful picture to describe the seriousness of Cain's crime.
Genesis 49:9
Jacob describes Judah as a lion's cub.
Judah is not literally a lion.
The image communicates strength and royal significance.
Genesis 49:21
Naphtali is compared to a doe.
Again, the comparison is not intended as a physical description.
These examples demonstrate something important.
The Bible can report real events and use figurative language in the same book.
Recognizing a figure of speech does not mean we must treat the surrounding history as figurative.
We must examine each passage in its context.
3. Poetry Often Uses Pictures to Communicate Truth
Much of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and other Old Testament writings is poetry.
Hebrew poetry frequently uses parallel statements, comparisons, exaggeration, and vivid descriptions.
Psalm 98:8
"Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains sing together for joy."
Rivers do not have hands.
Mountains do not have vocal cords.
The writer uses creation itself as a picture of rejoicing before God.
Psalm 18:2
David calls the Lord his rock, fortress, shield, and stronghold.
These images describe God's protection.
They are not competing descriptions of God's physical appearance.
Proverbs 1:20
Wisdom is described as crying aloud in the street.
Wisdom is presented as though it were a person calling people to listen.
This is called personification: describing something as though it were a person.
Understanding poetry helps us avoid forcing its pictures into literal descriptions.
But it also helps us appreciate the truth those pictures communicate.
4. Prophets Frequently Used Dramatic Images
The Old Testament prophets sometimes described historical judgments using language that sounds like the end of the physical universe.
Consider Isaiah.
Isaiah 13:1, 10
Isaiah announces an oracle concerning Babylon.
He describes the stars and constellations failing to give their light. The sun is darkened, and the moon does not shine.
The surrounding passage identifies Babylon as the subject of the prophecy.
The dramatic language describes judgment on a nation.
It does not require us to conclude that every star in the physical universe literally disappeared when Babylon fell.
Ezekiel 32:7–8
God announces judgment against Pharaoh and Egypt using similar language about darkening the heavens.
Once again, cosmic imagery appears in a prophecy concerning a historical nation.
These passages teach us an important lesson.
Language about the sun, moon, and stars does not automatically mean the writer is describing the literal destruction of the universe.
However, we must be equally careful in the other direction.
We cannot assume that every passage mentioning the darkening of heavenly bodies describes only a historical national judgment.
The context must determine the meaning.
5. What Is Apocalyptic Language?
The word apocalyptic comes from a Greek word meaning an unveiling or revelation.
In biblical studies, apocalyptic writing refers to a kind of literature that frequently communicates God's purposes through visions, symbolic figures, heavenly scenes, dramatic conflicts, and divine judgment.
Parts of Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Revelation contain this kind of imagery.
For example:
Daniel 7:3
Daniel sees four great beasts coming out of the sea.
Ezekiel 1:4–28
Ezekiel sees living creatures, wheels, and a vision of God's glory.
Zechariah 5:1–4
Zechariah sees a flying scroll.
Revelation 12:3
John sees a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns.
These are not written like ordinary travel reports.
The writers are describing visions.
That does not mean the visions are meaningless or imaginary inventions.
It means we must understand how the images communicate their messages.
A symbolic vision can describe something entirely real.
6. Let Scripture Explain Its Own Symbols
One of the safest ways to understand a biblical symbol is to look for an explanation within the passage or elsewhere in Scripture.
Sometimes the writer tells us exactly what a symbol represents.
Daniel 7:17, 23
Daniel sees four beasts.
The explanation identifies them with kings or kingdoms.
The beasts are symbolic.
The political powers they represent are real.
Revelation 1:20
John sees seven golden lampstands and seven stars.
Jesus explains that the lampstands are seven churches and the stars are the angels of those churches.
We do not need to invent meanings for the lampstands.
The passage gives us the interpretation.
Revelation 12:9
The great dragon is identified as the devil and Satan.
John does not leave us guessing about the dragon's identity.
Revelation 17:9–12
The seven heads and ten horns are explained in terms of mountains, kings, and authority.
Some questions about their historical identification remain, but John provides important clues.
These examples establish a useful principle:
Before deciding what a symbol means, ask whether Scripture has already explained it.
And remember that a symbol may have more than one association. We should not assume every appearance of a lion, horn, mountain, or star must carry exactly the same meaning.
7. The Old Testament Often Explains Revelation
Revelation contains hundreds of references and allusions to Old Testament passages.
Many of its images become easier to understand when we recognize where they came from.
Consider three examples.
The Son of Man — Daniel 7:13–14 and Revelation 1:13
Daniel describes one like a son of man receiving dominion and a kingdom.
Revelation uses the same kind of language to describe the glorified Christ.
The connection helps readers understand the royal authority associated with the figure.
The Beast — Daniel 7 and Revelation 13
Daniel sees beasts representing kingdoms.
John sees a beast with features resembling Daniel's beasts.
The connection suggests that John's vision concerns oppressive political power rather than a literal monster rising from the sea.
Gog and Magog — Ezekiel 38–39 and Revelation 20:7–10
Ezekiel describes Gog leading an attack against God's people.
John uses the names Gog and Magog in his vision of the nations gathering for a final rebellion.
Recognizing Ezekiel's language helps us understand John's imagery.
But there is an important caution.
Using an Old Testament image does not automatically mean two passages describe exactly the same historical event.
We must compare the similarities, differences, and contexts.
The Old Testament provides the background. The New Testament context helps determine how the earlier language is being used.
8. What About Numbers in Prophecy?
Numbers can be literal, symbolic, or both.
The Bible gives us examples of each.
Seven churches — Revelation 1–3
John writes to seven actual congregations in Asia.
The number may also carry literary significance, but these were real churches.
Twelve tribes — Genesis 49 and Revelation 7
Twelve is closely associated with Israel.
The New Testament also speaks of twelve apostles.
Revelation uses twelve repeatedly in its description of God's people and the New Jerusalem.
One thousand — Psalm 50:10
God speaks of the cattle on a thousand hills.
The number communicates abundance rather than limiting God's ownership to exactly one thousand hills.
One thousand years — Revelation 20:1–7
John repeatedly mentions a thousand years.
Some interpreters understand this as a literal period.
Others understand it as a symbolic period determined by God.
Psalm 50 shows that a thousand can be used figuratively.
But Psalm 50 does not, by itself, establish the meaning of the thousand years in Revelation.
We must examine Revelation 20 in its own context.
The important rule is simple: Do not assume a number is literal or symbolic merely because that interpretation supports your position.
9. Can a Symbol Have a Literal Fulfillment?
Yes.
In fact, this is one of the most important things to understand about prophetic language.
Daniel's beasts are symbolic.
But the kingdoms they represent are real.
Joseph's dreams in Genesis 37 use the sun, moon, and stars as symbolic representations of members of his family.
The family members are real.
Pharaoh's dreams in Genesis 41 contain seven healthy cows, seven thin cows, seven good heads of grain, and seven thin heads of grain.
Joseph explains that these represent seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine.
The pictures are symbolic.
The years and events they represent are real.
This gives us a clear example of how biblical symbolism works.
The symbol is not the event itself. It communicates something about the event.
Therefore, we should not reason that because a passage contains symbols, nothing in it can refer to actual events.
Nor should we assume that a real event must be described only through literal language.
10. Can Several Visions Describe the Same Event?
Yes, that is possible.
Genesis 41 provides a particularly clear example.
Pharaoh has two different dreams.
One involves cows.
The other involves heads of grain.
Joseph explains that the two dreams have the same meaning.
Genesis 41:25
"The dreams of Pharaoh are one."
Two different pictures communicate the same message.
This does not prove that every repeated vision in Daniel or Revelation describes the same event.
But it establishes that Scripture can communicate one reality through multiple pictures.
Revelation contains several visions of conflict, judgment, and victory.
Some interpreters understand these as separate events occurring in sequence.
Others believe certain visions revisit the same events from different perspectives.
We should compare their language, context, and outcomes before deciding.
Similarity alone does not prove that two visions describe the same event.
But neither should we assume that every new vision introduces a later event.
Both possibilities deserve examination.
11. How Do We Know When to Read Something Literally?
There is no single rule that solves every difficult passage.
But there are questions that help.
When Jesus says, "I am the door," the context makes clear that He is using a comparison.
When Luke says Paul sailed from one location to another, the account presents ordinary historical travel.
When John says he saw a dragon with seven heads, he is describing a vision, and Revelation 12:9 identifies the dragon.
The author's purpose and the surrounding context guide our understanding.
A useful approach is to begin with what the words would communicate in their setting.
Then ask whether the passage gives reasons to understand them figuratively.
These reasons may include:
an explicit explanation of a symbol,
a comparison or figure of speech,
a vision containing unusual imagery,
a clear connection with an earlier biblical picture,
or a literary context that signals poetry or symbolism.
But we must not turn these observations into mechanical rules.
A historical account may contain figurative expressions.
A vision may include literal numbers, places, or events.
A prophecy may use symbolic language to describe real historical judgment.
The goal is not to make everything literal or everything symbolic. The goal is to understand what the writer intended to communicate.
12. Seven Questions to Ask When Reading a Difficult Passage
Before reaching a conclusion about a prophecy, vision, or figure of speech, ask these seven questions.
Question 1 — What kind of writing is this?
Is it history, poetry, prophecy, a parable, a letter, or a vision?
Question 2 — Who wrote it, and to whom?
What would the original readers have understood?
Question 3 — What does the surrounding context say?
Have I read the verses before and after the passage?
Question 4 — Does Scripture explain the picture?
Is the symbol identified within the passage or elsewhere in the Bible?
Question 5 — Does the image come from an earlier biblical passage?
If so, how does the later writer use it?
Question 6 — Am I distinguishing what the text says from what I am assuming?
Can I point to the words that establish my conclusion?
Question 7 — Am I applying the same rules to interpretations I agree with and those I disagree with?
Would I accept this reasoning if someone used it to support a different conclusion?
That last question may be the hardest of all.
It is easy to recognize assumptions in someone else's interpretation.
It is much harder to recognize them in our own.
13. A Warning About Symbolic Interpretation
There are two opposite mistakes we should avoid.
The first is forcing a literal interpretation onto language that the writer clearly intends as figurative.
The second is calling language symbolic whenever its direct meaning challenges our beliefs.
Both mistakes allow the interpreter to control the passage.
For example, if the Bible explicitly identifies a beast as representing a kingdom, we should not insist it must be a literal animal.
But if a passage describes a real event in ordinary historical language, we should not dismiss it as symbolic without good reason.
We should also resist inventing meanings for symbols.
A horn does not mean whatever we want it to mean.
A mountain is not automatically a government in every passage.
A number does not always carry the same symbolic value.
The meaning must come from the text and its context.
A passage is not necessarily clear just because it agrees with what we already believe.
And a passage is not necessarily symbolic simply because we find it difficult.
Conclusion — Let the Bible Teach Us How to Read It
God communicated His Word through many kinds of writing.
Historical accounts tell us what happened.
Poetry communicates truth through powerful comparisons.
Parables teach through stories.
Prophets announce God's messages using both direct statements and vivid imagery.
Apocalyptic visions reveal God's purposes through dramatic pictures.
We should respect these differences.
When Scripture explains a symbol, we should listen.
When an earlier passage provides the background for a later one, we should examine the connection.
When the meaning is uncertain, we should acknowledge that uncertainty.
And when an interpretation depends on assumptions, we should identify them rather than present them as direct statements of Scripture.
The Bible does not become less trustworthy because it uses pictures.
Often, those pictures make its message more memorable and powerful.
Our responsibility is not to make the Bible say what we expect.
Our responsibility is to discover what its writers intended us to understand.
If it's not in the text, don't put it there.
Continue Exploring Scripture
Should Clear Passages Help Explain Difficult Ones?
How to compare direct teaching with difficult prophetic visions.
https://text-b4-tradition.com/clear-passages-difficult-ones-revelation-20
Does Revelation Describe the Same Final Battle More Than Once?
An example of comparing symbolic visions while considering both similarities and differences.
https://text-b4-tradition.com/16-19-and-20-revelation
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